3 Remarkable Events in Scandinavian History

A great piece of Scandinavian history and travel-writing from Ben & Glinda Shipley, professional photographers and newspaper travel columnists. They begin on June 8, 793 AD, when the Vikings invaded an island off the coast of northeast Britain. They "spent the next few days slaughtering the godly, enslaving every woman of childbearing age, and sailing …

Re-Examining What Happened to Cherokee Land in NC, Other States

Drew Reisinger, Register of Deeds of Buncombe County, NC, and his staff in Asheville, as well as most citizens of the county, didn't have a firm grasp on how the county was formed from mostly Cherokee lands. So they "set out to take a deeper look at that origin story using primary sources to tell a …

Why Did People Wear Powdered Wigs?

For more than 100 years, from the 1600s to the late 1700s, powered wigs were quite the fashion in Europe, especially among aristocrats who could afford them. They hid sores and lesions on the head from syphilis, from which there was no cure. They protected somewhat against lice as well. The most famous wearer of …

Peter the Great: Russia’s Greatest Czar

"Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alekséyevich (b. 1672-d. 1725) was a monarch of the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May, 1682 until his death in 1725, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. Under his reign, Russia was modernized and grew into a European power." …

History of Scottish Independence: Was Unity Inevitable? Could Britain Break Up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHZiXUDV6A The Economist: "The union between the nations of the United Kingdom is looking increasingly fragile, thanks to Brexit. If Scotland were to break away from Britain it would face an uncertain future—as would the rest of the union." Coqui Marinero on the Alternative History Online Facebook Group asked: "I've heard the sentiment that England …

Economic Systems Evolved From Feudalism to Mercantilism. Some Politicians Still Embrace It

Out of feudalism, which was dominant in Europe from the 800s through at least the 1500s, grew a number of economic systems, most notably mercantilism, which was "designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promoted imperialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. It sought policies with the objectives of reducing …

Early 1700s Was Last Time British Economy Plunged So Far, So Fast

In the long 2000+ history of Britain, the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus is not unprecedented. But a British historian says you'd have to go back more than 300 years to find such a sudden, severe and drastic fall in the English economy. The Bank of England has predicted a 14 percent decline in …

Voltaire Was Indeed A Champion of Free Speech, But His Most Famous Quote Was Faked

That famous quote from the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," was actually faked. He never said it. And it's not actually even a sentiment he would have expressed. But we can still learn from him, argues Peter Shawn …

8 Things You May Not Know About the French Guillotine

The execution device once dubbed the “National Razor” of France was inspired by the Halifax Guibbet in England and the Scottish Maiden in the 1500s. It was actually considered humane because it was a relatively quick form of capital punishment without enduring torture. https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-guillotine Public beheadings continued in France until 1939, weren't completely outlawed until …

Great Wars for Global Empire in the 1700s

Napoleon's attempt to unify Europe by force in the early 1800s seemed humane in many respects because the continent had spent centuries and spilled rivers of blood fighting each other over religion and the quest for empire. Crash Course: "European powers had a lot of wars in the 18th century, and they weren't confined to …